A western Lawrence school is named for one of the most influential men of letters of the 20th Century — Langston Hughes, an African-American writer and poet whose childhood years were spent in Lawrence.

Langston Hughes School, Lawrence’s newest elementary school, is in far western Lawrence in a relatively new development at 1101 George Williams Way.

The school, which was built in 2000, had an enrollment of 275 in fall 2003 and, ironically, includes relatively few African-American, Hispanic or persons of “other” races.

According to the Kansas State Board of Education Report Card, which lists the socioeconomic mix of all schools, only 4.53 percent of the school’s enrollment was African American during the last school year. Here is the building’s ethnicity breakdown: white, 89.17 percent; African American, 4.53 percent; Hispanic, 2.26 percent; other, 3.4 percent.

The Report Card shows that at Langston Hughes School, 7.17 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged.

According to the state’s latest Report Card for Langston Hughes, fifth grade students showed a increase in reading and fourth-graders increased in math scores over the previous year.

Langston Hughes students scored higher than their peers in the district and across the state in both reading and math, winning a “Standard of Excellence” rating from the state.

The number of the school’s fifth-graders who were “proficient,” “advanced,” or “exemplary” in reading went from 74.2 percent to 77.5 percent on the state test.

The Lawrence district’s overall reading score for fifth-graders, showed that 74.2 percent were either proficent, advanced or exemplary in reading. The overall state score was 68.7 percent for those categories.

Langston Hughes’ fourth-graders tested in math showed an increase from 87.9 percent to 89.5 percent between 2002 and 2003 for students scoring either proficient, advanced or exemplary.

That compared with 73.3 percent for the entire districts and 73.5 percent for the state.

The school’s regular hours are 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. The school has an after-school program with the Boys & Girls Club, 841-6854.

The school’s staff includes a total of 47 teachers and support staff.

In 2003, Kathy Rathbun was honored with the Bob’s Award, a special local award for Excellence in Teaching. In 1994, Jayne Polcyn, (then a teacher at Sunset Hill) was named Lawrence Schools Foundation Educator of the Year.

Langston Hughes’ principal is Lisa Williams, who has been principal since July 2003. Williams had been a curriculm specialist with Kansas City, Kan., public schools.

To arrange a visit, call 785-832-5890.